This invention relates generally to dispensers for moist tissues or towelettes, and more particularly to a dispenser of this type in which a moist tissue is extracted from a perforated roll thereof housed within a container, the leading end tissue of the roll being drawn through a dispensing orifice whose constriction and configuration are such as to facilitate the separation of the tissue from the roll while maintaining the container in a sealed state.
Pre-moistened tissue packets are known which take the form of an individual tissue of absorbent material impregnated with an alcohol-based cleansing agent, the tissue being folded and packaged within a hermetically-sealed foil envelope which maintains the tissue in a moist state indefinitely. Access to the tissue is had by tearing open the envelope. Such packets are widely used in airplanes and restaurants where meals are served to passengers or diners and where the use of non-disposable fabric wash cloths would be impractical.
There are many situations where the need frequently arises for a moist tissue or wash cloth. Thus in a household having an infant, a clean wash cloth is required before and after feeding, at changing times and for washing the baby's delicate skin. In the course of a day, this need may occur on as many as a dozen or more occasions.
The use of non-disposable wash cloths for this purpose would mean that at the end of the day, there would be a sizable pile of soiled cloths that required careful cleaning, thereby imposing a heavy burden on a typically already-overtaxed household. Alternatively, one could use individual disposable moist tissue packets, but this would be both inconvenient and expensive; for it would be necessary on each occasion to tear open the foil envelope and unfold the moist tissue.
In recent years, dispensers have become available for wet impregnated tissues which are stored in roll form and housed in a dispenser, so that individual tissues may be extracted therefrom. One such dispenser is disclosed in the Doyle et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,002 in which a rolled web of wet impregnated tissues is housed in a container, the end tissue being pulled from the roll through a cross-slitted opening in the container cover. The edges of the slits frictionally engage the web during extraction thereof, these edges being forced open and apart while the web is withdrawn. The friction exerted by the slit edges causes severance of the web at the line of perforations above the slit to expose the next leading end of the web which may then be readily grasped for subsequent extraction.
In order for a dispenser of the Doyle et al. type to operate effectively, it must, according to the Doyle et al. patent, possess seven distinct attributes; namely, (1) an impervious container, (2) closeness of slit edges, (3) a give or deformation of the edges of the slit and "memory" properties, (4) free flowing, frictionless compactness of the web in the container, (5) the ability of the slits to cause the web to rope, (6) the greater grasp of the slits at the ends of the roped web with respect to the lesser grasp thereon at the central portion of the slit, and (7) the motion outwardly of the roped web while the tearing off or severance progresses.
Thus unless the slits in the Doyle et al. dispenser have the above-specified physical and functional characteristics, the dispenser will not operate in its intended manner. This requires, for example, that the slitted container be made of a plastic material having the required deformation or "memory" properties. In practice, this may be difficult and expensive to attain in a mass-produced, dispenser intended to sell at low cost.
Moreover, since the tissue in Doyle et al. passes through the cross slits in a roped condition and a portion of the rope remains exposed for subsequent extraction, it becomes, as a practical matter, impossible to fully close the deformable slits in the dormant state of the dispenser. As a consequence, the container is not entirely sealed, and there is a gradual loss of moisture from the roll housed therein.
Thus when a moist tissue dispenser is only used occasionally, as is sometimes the case, the gradual loss of moisture will result in a semi-dry or dried out roll and an unacceptable product.